WETASKIWIN, Alta. - A 29-year-old man nearly froze to death after jumping onto a slow-moving train in central Alberta, say Mounties.
The intoxicated man climbed aboard the train early Friday morning in Wetaskiwin, Alta., about 70 kilometres south of Edmonton.
"He got between two of the rail cars and was simply going to ride it for a very short distance, like a matter of blocks, but as the train got faster he couldn't get off of it," said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.
"He was essentially out in 80 or 90 kilometre per hour winds when the temperature was in the low -20s. He was in very dire straits if he hadn't been saved."
The man called police on his cellphone, but it took some investigative work by officers and railway officials to figure out which train he was on - there were two in the area.
They asked the engineers on both trains to blow their whistles at different times.
It was only when they heard the train whistle through the man's cellphone that they figured out he was on a train near Red Deer, Alta., dozens of kilometres from where he jumped on board.
Police caught up and say the man was hypothermic and unconscious.
The man has been charged with trespassing by CPR police, said railway spokesman Mike Lovecchio.
"It was an incredibly risky stunt this individual pulled," Lovecchio said.
"He put himself at terrible risk ... all too frequently we have to deal with these type of incidents where somebody's injured or dies as a consequence of trespassing on railway property."